Even though this season has had some delays, Mexican mango producers expect higher export volumes year-on-year

Between April and August, Mexican mango production is at its peak. However, the season starts in January and runs all the way to September. 

Emex Mexico, a leading association of Mexican mango exporters, told FreshFruitPortal that they expect a 5% to 8% increase in volume for the current season compared to 2022. 

“We are working hard on quality implementation, which is not easy, but we have made progress with several companies in this implementation and we hope to soon have a product with quality seals,” the company said. 

New exporters on the rise

At the end of last year, Colombia announced its first shipment of mangos to the U.S. market. Even though their volumes are low, they expect to increase exports in the seasons to come. 

“Their entry to this market will be good for their country, their volumes at the moment are not high and we wish them luck with their variety,” said Emex regarding Colombian exporters. 

Brazil, Ecuador, and Peru are the main South American exporters of mango to the U.S. and they recorded a 24% increase in export volumes last year, showing an increase in demand from the American market. 

Colombia is currently exporting two varieties of mangoes, the sugar mango which is a small fruit marketed as “pocket-sized” which can be eaten with their skin, making it the ideal treat for kids or anytime snacking. This variety will enter the U.S. market during the second week of March. 

The second variety, which made its U.S. debut in December 2022, is the fresh mango, with producers expecting to export 1,000 tons of the variety this year, hoping to become a strong supplier to one of the top consumer countries for this fruit.

Increasing demand

Emex acknowledges that the consumption of mangoes is increasing every year in the U.S. and Canada. 

Regarding challenges for this season, they indicated that the lack of labor in the field, and high input costs will be the hardest ones to tackle for local producers and exporters.